Along with a few other features the Switch 4.0.0 firmware update has added the compatibility with the official GameCube Adapter for the Wii U. It is worth noting that the Mayflash adapter for the GCN was working back in June, but now we've got official support. The Mayflash only supported one controller, with the official adapter you can hook only the black USB cables to the Switch and use two adapters for a total of 8 GCN controllers on the Switch. No news on if this was on purpose or a just pure luck with the USB Audio patch. But its got everyone speculating on what it could mean. Everything from Smash to GCN Virtual Console.

These little devices were really hard to find when they launched, so finding one now is going to be even more expensive. I'd hold off before you spend money though. But if you want to throw caution to the wind here is a link for one on Amazon

SplatNet 2: When the Nintendo Switch Online app* launches for mobile devices on July 21, players will also have access to SplatNet 2. This Splatoon 2-specific service helps players stay in touch with Inkopolis even when they are away from their Nintendo Switch systems! SplatNet 2 displays information like stage schedules, gear and stats, and even lets users view their lifetime inkage, a feature that shows how much turf a player has inked compared to real-world places. The Nintendo Switch Online app allows users to invite other players to join Private Battles, League Battles, Salmon Run and Splatfest Battles, as well as communicate with those players using voice chat. (A compatible mobile device and persistent internet connection are required. Data charges may apply.)

Honestly the one part that we really needed to see isn't shown here and that's if Nintendo has another option besides the HORI headphones to hear game audio and voice audio at the same time.

Cosmic Star Heroine is the epitome of classic JRPG style games, while also bringing something new to the table. The game is by Zeboyd games designers of some of the Penny Arcade games, as well as the amazing Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII, both of which are available on Steam. You can get Cosmic Star on Steam as well as PS4. I played it on PS4 and I have to tell you, it is fantastic.

The game totally nails the feel of SNES era JRPGs of the 90s in both the art direction and audio. The graphics in particular are gorgeous, and have cool combat animations. The game has cutscenes that make the game feel even more nostalgic. The music for the game is very good, although a bit repetitive during combat. The story is very different, this isn’t your normal fantasy setting. I won’t go into too many details because of spoilers, but you play as a spy that works for a spy agency in the far future. The writing is on point, and the dialogue seems like it is cheesy on purpose. It almost feels like it was written to mimic 1980s action movies. The game has quite a bit of dialogue, but there are some real great jokes in there, each character feels like they have their own personality, and timing.

Combat works like most traditional JRPGs in Cosmic Star Heroine, in that it’s based on menu manipulation. I really like that Each fight is its own, and if you hardly survived a fight, you were back at full health for the next one. Every character has a multitude of abilities to chose from (you can customize which skills they will use in combat as you can’t use them all) but I didn’t feel like there were traditional roles where characters were pigeonholed as healers or damage. Every character also has style which increases the damage that you do as a fight goes on. At the end of a fight you’re doing more damage than at the beginning. Enemies also have the same mechanic, so its in your best interests to get fights over with quickly.

Your character’s abilities are augmented with items and programs which are essentially the same thing, with one exception. Programs are character specific, where items are shared by the party. Each ability has a cooldown, which can be reset by using the rest ability. Figuring out when you should use the various rest abilities of your characters is essential to success. The coupled with the fact that your roster is changing often and you’ll have a very different style of play from one encounter to the next as characters in your party come and go.

Cosmic Star Heroine isn’t super easy. It has four difficulty levels, and even though I chose what was described as the “normal” setting, I still had a lot of trouble with some bosses and had to lower the difficulty in order to complete the game. That being said, Cosmic Star Heroine does let you change the difficulty any time you want, which is welcome as I was getting frustrated going up against the same boss many times in a row. Death is also handled very well. If you die in a fight, the game simply takes you back to the beginning of that fight. You don’t lose anything other than time. The game could have used some minigames as you’re often hacking consoles which consists of just going up to it and hitting a button on your controller. It would have been nice had I had a chance to fail at hacking and had something to do.

The Verdict

Check It Out. If you’ve got a PS4 or PC and you like JRPG games, this along with other Zeboyd games is right up your alley. The game doesn’t have a whole lot of choice though, and at times I felt railroaded. But I had a lot of fun playing it, and I highly recommend Cosmic Star Heroine if you enjoy this style of game.

This first one looks so good, odd that they put Pokken in the Summer trailer since it doesn't come out until the 22. Still, Nintendo seems to be betting on Multiplayer games on the Switch. Let's hope thier online is up to the challenge.

I've said multiple times that I was done with Minecraft. I've also said tht I am not interested in Minecraft on consoles. Minecraft is a game that I've purchased many times. More than I care to admit. There is a reason though. It's a fantastic game. I've spent many hours in Minecraft worlds digging away at the earth, building the raw materials into something that might resemble a house in the nightmares of architects. It is fun. I've built nuclear reactors in the sky using mods for th elc version. So why would I go back to vanilla for the Switch? I very much prefer the mouse and keyboard interface and available mods on the of version.

My son however prefers to play on the console. I got him the game when it came out. I feel Ike of all the games Minecraft is the one that is best for kids. It fosters creativity and abstract thinking. Plus he loves it. He has been asking me if I'm going to get it for my own Switch, I replied no of course. I've played enough Minecraft. I'm ready to leave it behind. Still something was bugging me, a tiny Steve in the back of my mind telling me to try it out. Alas this morning I folded and I now have Minecraft on my Switch as well.

So, what do I think of it? It's Minecraft, nothing surprising here, it's the same game that we've played on the PC , the Xbox the PS4 the Wii U, your phone, refrigerator. Okay I made that last one up, but I'm sure that someone has done it. I'm really excited to play the game with him, no more fighting to get our computers to talk to each other. Just load it up on the Switch and do wireless. Hopefully it will work. I'll let you know. And because we both have our own, no more split screen, where I can't tell what's happening on the screen because everything is so small. I hated split screen Minecraft on the Wii U, and Xbox 360.

I haven't actually sat down to play with him yet, so let's talk a bit about what's I don't like. I wish they had included the features specific to the Switch. Like HD rumble, and motion controls. The game would play so much better if they just rip off Nintendo's work on Breath of the Wild motion controls. Having HD rumble built in where as you are mining it vibrates more and more until there is a satisfying thunk as the block pops out of a wall would be awesome. I don't like that they tacked on the $10 Mario pack, I don't care about it, I don't want it, if I do want it let me decide that rather than permanently attach it to the game. I'm sure it makes fiscal sense for them to sell the game this way, I just feel like it is just a bit anti-consumer. The game currently runs at 60 FPS 720P in both docked and handheld mode. Though this is supposedly a bug according to some reports. This certainly isn't a deal breaker, as Minecraft is always pretty pixelated by design.

So what now? I hope my issues with the game get patched, and I'm currently waiting for a Steve or Creeper Amiibo, come on Nintendo / Microsoft, you're sitting on money right there. I'm full of ideas that one is free.

Every time you play Tumbleseed you’re going to have a brand new experience. This is because the game is a roguelike, meaning that it is procedurally generated, from the enemies that you encounter, the layout of the levels, the town that you start in, even the power ups that you can pick up along the way on your adventure.

Tumbleseed in action

Tumbleseed has some fantastic game design, the game is all about risk vs reward, and is filled with non stop decisions that you have to make that could spell your doom if you choose poorly. The most common decision that you’ll have to make is what powers to use. You get the same four powers every time, as well as random powers that you end up purchasing with the game's currency (not real money).The first power that you get is called Flag seed, flags are your checkpoints, if you fall in your adventures, and you will. You’ll only ever fall as far as your most recent flag. You plant them in diamond shaped gardens as you play. In order to plant one you have to have crystals that you have to roll past to pick up while you’re playing. There are things like caterpillars and dragonflies that will harm you if you run into them undefended, the next power that you’ll pick up is called Thornvine. This also costs crystals to plant, but unlike the flag, these come with you. You can have up to 3 thornvine at any time, and you can use thornvine to kill enemies by running into them. A defeated enemy will grant one or more crystals, and your thornvine will break. Run into an enemy without thornvine and you’ll lose a heart and fall to your most recent flag.

There aren’t enough crystals on the board for you to use your powers non stop, so you have the Crystal power, this lets you pick up shards of crystals at gardens. When you hit 3 gardens two crystals will spawn at your location to pick up. Finally there is Heart Vine, which allows you to regenerate hearts by hitting 4 gardens with the power equipped. The trick to the game is, that when you use a garden, it's used up, so you can’t hit it again. This means that you constantly have to decide which power is best to use at which time. Do I replenish my hearts so I don’t get a game over? Do I get more thornvines to defend myself against the dangers of the mountain? Do I plant a flag to keep my progress should I make a mistake. All of these powers rely on your ability to generate crystals quick enough. If you’re all out you have no choice but to use the crystal power to replenish your stock.

In addition as you play the game you’ll unlock shops where you can spend crystals on other powers that spawn randomly in the game. Some powers will have Tumbleseed firing projectiles left and right as you move up for a time, others may make you invisible, or plant a turret that fires homing missiles at enemies. Spend too many seeds on a level and when you get to a shop you won’t be able to pick up the new hotness in seed city.

The art in Tumbleseed is really fantastic. They have put down the graphics in layers, like the Lost Woods in a Link to the Past, You can see the shadows of the clouds moving over the background, while creatures are zipping back and forth across the screen. The game is filled with bright colors that really stand out, but I feel like there is just a bit too much to look at and distract me. So many shiny things! The sound design is also spot on, rain and wind sounds great, and the sound effects of the various creatures and obstacles that you encounter along the way have a great cartoony vibe. The music is cool and soothing, but I ended up turning it off. I needed something that I could sing along with to distract my brain so I could let my thumbs take over the controls, because the more I thought about it, the worse I tended to do.

While we’re on the subject, controls make or break this game. For me they broke the game. Tumbleseed feels like a fantastically designed gem of a game, hidden behind infuriating controls. You don’t actually control your character directly, instead you move the left and right sticks to move the left and right side of a vine up and down. This controls the angle of the vine, and Tumbleseed rolls back and forth in response. It is very difficult, and very precise. You can control the deadzone, but I personally was not able to find a sweet spot. You have to avoid enemies and obstacles, while picking up crystals and planting gardens, and the game refuses to allow you to react quickly enough without losing control. This might seem weird, but I ended up playing backwards. Instead of pushing Tumbleseed up the mountain, I found myself letting him fall backwards. I wasn’t holding the controls differently, but it felt like the feeling you get when you’re backing up a truck with a trailer attached. I don’t feel like this is a case of bad design, it's more that the control scheme just didn’t click with me, and your experience might be very different.

One thing that I’d like to point out is that this game does not use motion controls, some might say that it would be perfect for them, but I think the degree of precision that is required to successfully navigate the mountain, wouldn’t be achievable with motion controls. I would have liked a difficulty slider to reduce the number of baddies or obstacles on the screen. This would allow me to build up to the level the game starts at, because it is very difficult.

In addition to the story mode the game also has non-procedurally generated levels in the daily challenge, which is like a high score game of sorts, so you can find out who can get to the end the fastest. I’d bet that Tumbleseed is a speedrunners dream, with new content every day and real skill involved in order to succeed.

Ultimately I feel like Tumbleseed is a fantastically designed gem of a game, hidden behind frustrating controls, I recommend you check out a demo of the game if possible before plunking down your hard earned money on it, as the game has potential to blow you away if you’re good at it, but if you’re not amazing at dual stick games, this game will lead to some broken controllers. That being said, I don’t doubt for a moment that this game will be popular with a segment of the market, I’m just not part of that segment.

Special thanks to RoguesPortal for asking me to write this and supplying the review copy.